A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of computer networks. In particular, the invention relates to accounting and billing for services in a computer network.
B. Description of the Related Art
The low cost of Internet connectivity and a wide range of services are driving and more people onto the Internet, which is driving the deployment of TCP/IP networks. This process has led to a new market of client-server applications that enables the user to interact with other users and computer systems around the world. The use of these applications is consuming more and more Intranet and Internet bandwidth.
New applications such as “voice over IP (Internet Protocol)” and streaming audio and video require even more bandwidth and a different quality of service than email, or other less real-time applications. Also, the type quality of service can vary according to the needs of the user. For example, typically, businesses do not tolerate unavailable network services as easily as consumers. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) therefore would like to price their available bandwidth according to a user's needs. For example, flat monthly pricing may be the best billing model for consumers, but businesses may want to be billed according to their used bandwidth at particular qualities of service.
As ISPs continue to differentiate themselves by providing additional services, enterprise information technology managers will face similar problems to account for the escalating Intranet operating costs.
Therefore, ISPs and enterprise information technology managers will want to account for session logging, bandwidth usage, directory data and application session information from a variety of sources.
Due to the diversity of IP data sources (e.g., routers, hubs etc.), the need for effect tracking far exceeds the problems addressed by telephone companies. Telephone companies track information such as circuit usage so it can be correlated with account information. For example, businesses may use leased lines, consumers may have “Friends and Family” plans, cellular phones have different roamer fees according to the location of the user, etc. Typically, the phone company captures all of the data and uses batch processing to aggregate the information into specific user accounts. For example, all the long distance calls made during a billing period are typically correlated with the Friends and Family list for each phone account at the end of a billing period for that account. This requires a significant amount of computing power. However, this type of problem is significantly simpler than attempting to track and bill for every transaction in an IP network. Therefore, what is desired is a system that allows for accounting and billing of transactions on IP based networks.
The problem is even more difficult in IP network traffic because the information sources can exist and many different levels of the OSI network model, throughout heterogeneous networks. Potential sources of information include packet use from routers, firewall authentication logging, email data, ISP session logging, and application layer use information. Therefore, what is desired is a system and method that track IP network usage information across multiple layers of the OSI network model.